I never really got what the big fuss about Godsmack was and their latest release, IV doesn't do anything to convince me that they are anything more than an average alternative metal band with a vocalist who tries really hard to sound like James Hetfield.

Records like IV are a bit tough to evaluate. The problem here isn't actually that the band is doing something that is clearly and essentially wrong. On the contrary - they obviously know how to play this type of music and they show it on all the tracks on this album, whether it is the heavy post-grunge of "The Enemy" and "Speak" or the introspective and mellow "Hollow" and "Mama". Therefore, the problem is actually that the band is unwilling to take chances and as a consequence never reaches the heights of the bands that influenced them. All of this results in a well played record that is ultimately not very memorable and is easy to dismiss as commercial post-grunge that occupies much of rock radio waves these days. Sully does have a powerful, if somewhat unoriginal, vocal delivery, the drummer really knows what he's doing behind the set and the guitarist knows how to churn out a catchy riff. All of this potential is sadly wasted.